New Delhi: Finance Ministry plans to put up the 7th Pay Commission award for cabinet approval by fourth week of June.

7th Pay Commission award is likely to be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval next month, a top Finance Ministry official said on Thursday asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the information.

“Implementation cell of the 7th Pay Commission met all stakeholders and took their inputs. The Empowered Committee or Secretaries group will be holding discussions internally on the inputs of 7th pay commission recommendations on June 11 and hope to put up the 7th Pay Commission award before cabinet by fourth week of June,” the official said.

The Finance Ministry received huge comments from various stakeholders on 7th pay commission recommendations.

The official also said 7th Pay Commission award for central government employees and pensioners will be implemented within July.

“The Secretaries group now is reviewing the Implementation cell’s observation and the process of 7th Pay Commission award is in the last stage,” he added.

He said Implementation cell in Finance Ministry has already sent its observation on 7th pay commission recommendations after vetting to the Secretaries group.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government will soon launch a new initiative under which Indian post will deliver Gangajal at your door steps.

Addressing a press conference in the capital today, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he has instructed postal department to chalk out a plan to deliver gangajal at people's door stepsby using e-commerce platform.

He said the concerened department has assured him of proactive steps to address the cultural unperniing of people of India about Gangajal.

The Ganga water from Haridwar and Rishhikesh will be made available to the buyers.

The move is also seen as an effort to revive the ailing Indian postal service which has been on downward spiral in last few years.

New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha who is heading the Empowered Committee or Secretaries group is likely to hand over a report on the revised pay structures of 7th pay commission recommendations to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley by the end of next month.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said government had requisite fund to implement 7th pay commission award. Cabinet Secretary Sinha will finally make his appearance before the the Empowered Committee or Secretaries group on June 11 to make a proposal on the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod.

recommendations to be submitted by June “The proposal will be placed before the Cabinet after the finance ministry’s review. We don’t think it will take more time for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s consideration and the new pay structures will be implemented from July after cabinet nod,” said a top official from the Finance Ministry who did not wish to be named.

The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur submitted the report on November 19. It had proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions.

The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%. Finance Minister Jaitley is likely to agree with the Secretaries group. “I think it should not be touched again,” the official said. Once the new structure is implemented, salaries of around 48 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners will rise by 30 percent. The Finance Minister already said the 7th pay commission award would not make the commodity prices to go up.

The central government employees and pensioners will also spend more money on a variety of goods after receiving the 7th Commission award with arrears from January 2016. “This means higher consumption similar to what happened in the past. But the previous two Pay Commission awards came with a lag of two years. So the arrears were large.

This time, it will not be so,” says Pronab Sen, former Chief Statistician, government of India and now Country Director, International Growth Centre, a think tank based at LSE, run in partnership with University of Oxford.

The official also agrees with Sen and said there was no possibility of any impact of the report on the market at this stage of implementation as there were no impacts when the Pay Commission had first submitted the report. The government formed a 13 member secretary-level Empowered Committee or Secretaries group headed by Sinha in January to review the report of the 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod. The 7th pay commission was set up by the UPA government in February 2014. It submitted the report after around 22 months. After getting the 7th pay commission report, the finance minister Jaitley while introducing the Seventh Pay Commission report on November 19, already said that the final decisions on the Seventh Pay Commission report took five and a half months including the process of Secretaries group. Finance Minister also said, government had requisite fund to implement it.

The secretary group is likely to propose pay structure of minimum at Rs 21,000 and the maximum at Rs 2,70,000 Accordingly, the Secretaries group is likely to reach the conclusion to propose 30 percent basic pay raise instead of 14.27 per cent, which was recommended by 7th Pay Commission.

They are also mulling for doubling of existing rates of such allowances and advances, which has been recommended for abolition by the 7th Pay Commission, sources said. TST

Kindly refer to this Association’s letter of even number dated 21/4/2016 on the above cited subject and arrange to intimate the final outcome of re-verification process Union / Association wise for the information to the members of this Association.

Subject : Preparation of Combined All India Seniority list of Inspector Posts for the year 2001 and onwards - regarding.

Ref. : Directorate memo No. 7-1/2015-SPB-II dated 17th May 2016

Respected Sir,

This Association conveys its sincere thanks to the staff of SPB-II Division of Directorate for issue of long pending combined All India Seniority list of Inspector Posts for year 2001 and 2002.

Most of the members of this Association noticed that combined seniority lists of Inspector Posts cadre for the year 2001 and 2002 circulated vide above captioned memo are not prepared correctly. Further, due attention is found not bestowed while fixing the seniority among the promotee and direct recruit Inspectors of the same year of the recruitment etc. Therefore many Inspector posts are going to submit their representations to Directorate through proper channel.

It is therefore requested to accept and consider the representations received from Inspectors and settle their grievances according to the rules and regulations framed by the nodal ministry. It is also requested to release remaining years combined seniority lists in phased manner only.

Subject : Submission of fresh copy of constitution of All India Association of Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents Posts.

Ref. : Directorate memo No. 15/03/2016-SR dated 22nd March 2016

Respected Sir,

It is bring to your kind notice that in response to above captioned letter, this Association has submitted a fresh copy of Constitution (corrected upto 1st April 2016) to Directorate under letter of even number dated 6/4/2016 with a request to circulate the same to all circles, but till date no action is found taken thereon.

It is therefore requested to kindly circulate this Association’s Constitution to all Circles at the earliest.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Department of Posts (DoP) is likely to soon start a Rs 1,370-crore mega project that will allow India's 1.3 lakh postmen in rural regions to use network-connected handheld terminals for postal delivery.

The project, awarded last year to a consortium that includes state-run Telecom Consultants of India (TCIL), system integrator Ricoh India and Hyderabad-based VisionTek, which provides handheld devices, was delayed due to unavailability of components.

Big IT companies such as HP and Wipro were also in the running for the contract rolled out by the ministry of communications & information technology. "Based on terminal devices on network, the DoP initiative is likely to happen later this month. The project was delayed as the private company took time to deliver the components," TCIL's chairman and managing director Vimal Wakhlu told ET.

The devices will have a biometric module to authenticate an individual's identity using the Aadhaar number, solar-powered panel for charging terminals and a thermal printer to instantly print receipts.

"This is completely an indigenous project, including devices and components, and strengthens the concept of 'Make in India'," said Wakhlu.

The initiative is aimed at preventing postal losses and minimising procedural delays. The service will require a digital signature of the addressee that can be automatically transferred to a central server and an acknowledgement sent to the person.

The movement of postmen can be tracked using GPS on this device. It will help monitor the entire system and ensure more efficiency as post offices play a vital role in India's rural economy, Wakhlu said. "This programme is a step towards financial inclusion of the people of rural India as it will facilitate financial transactions. Money can be delivered and accepted through this device, with proper bank account and receipts delivery," he said.

Ricoh will act as the systems integrator, managing installations, maintaining hardware and supplying peripheral devices for the project.

"We have won the Rs 1,370-crore contract from DoP for the supply of hardware solutions under the department's modernisation initiatives. Ricoh will be providing maintenance services for rural ICT devices for a period of five years," said Ricoh India's managing director Manoj Kumar.

Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to the cadre review of Indian Postal Service (IPoS)

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval to the proposal for undertaking cadre review of the Indian Postal Service.

The cadre review will enable the Department of Posts to meet the functional requirements and strengthening the cadre structure both in the headquarters and in the field on the basis of functional requirement, which will provide more avenues to earn review and respond effectively to the customer needs, reduce the existing stagnation and improve the career prospects of Indian Postal Service officers.

The proposal will be implemented through measures that include creation of a post of DG (Postal Operations) in the Apex scale, creation of post of Additional DG(Coordination) in the HAG+ scale, one post in HAG level, 5 posts in SAG level and 4 posts at the JAG level, and also increase of 84 posts at JTS level by down-grading from STS and overall decreasing STS posts by 96 for adjustment of new posts proposed to be created, without any overall change in the total number of posts in the cadre.

For undertaking the above exercise, necessary consultations on the CRC recommendations with Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions have been duly completed. The Department of Expenditure have conveyed their ‘no objection’ to the proposal.

All members of this Association are aware that Directorate vide memo No. 9-9/2011-SPG dated 22.02.2016 has called for some additional information related to few IP/ASP candidates of Bihar/Karnataka / Kerala / Tamil Nadu /Jharkhand / Madhya Pradesh / Rajasthan/ Uttarkhand and Uttar Pradesh Circle working in APS for updation of seniority list of Inspector Posts cadre for the year from 1992 to 2000. This updation is being kept ready for easily convening of regular DPCs of PS Gr. B in near future and also to avoid representations from the officers.

It is learnt that till today Jharkhand and Rajasthan circle has not submitted requisite information to Directorate.

APS Directorate has also not submitted the required information to Directorate as required in Annexure-I of the above said letter.

It is therefore directed to Circle Secretaries of Jharkhand and Rajasthan Circle and new CHQ office bearers of these two circles to meet the circle administration immediately and ensure submission of requisite information to Directorate immediately.

Any officers working in APS may contact to GS on his land line No. 022-25476356 and 25476022 to discuss the issue in detail.

It is learnt that WB circle has still not submitted required and correct information of two officers to Directorate and therefore supplementary DPC is delayed. Therefore Directorate has decide to ignore these candidates of WB circle from zoc and proceed further. CHQ welcomed the move of the Directorate. We expect the result of supplementary DPC very soon.

Note: The records i.e Order book, Stock book, Postman book and Book of Postmarks should be destroyed by fire in presence of BPM or otherwise, in such a manner that they may not be used again. Other record should be torn up and sold as waste paper by BPM and credit sale proceeds to “UCR”.

NEW DELHI: Amazon India has silently upgraded its return policy for electronic items. As per the new guidelines , electronics are no longer eligible for refunds. However, customers can still get defective items replaced. It is important to note that this is applicable only for products that are fulfilled by Amazon. For items that are seller-fulfilled, it is up to the seller to issue refunds for items that can't be repaired or replaced.

"Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, monitors, cameras and camera lenses that are fulfilled by Amazon are not eligible for refund and have a replacement only policy. In case you have received a defective or a damaged mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, monitor, camera or camera lens that is fulfilled by Amazon, you will be eligible for a free replacement by the seller as per the product replacement policies provided on Amazon.in," according to the company.

Amazon India did not clarify what will happen if the seller cannot provide replacements for electronic items fulfilled by Amazon.

For refurbished electronics like mobiles, tablets and laptops, Amazon India will issue refunds if the customers return the same within 10 days of purchase.

According to the company, products that are 'Fulfilled by Amazon' indicate that "they are stored, packed and dispatched by Amazon."

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P. K. Sinha processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission is expected to meet on June 11 to finally wrap up its report on the remuneration of government employees.

It is reported that the secretaries panel will finally hear out all the stakeholders, including the Central ministries and Departments, and finalise its report, which will be handed over to the government on June 30.

Sources added that even the Prime Minister's Office is keen on a favourable pay hike for the central government employees, so the panel is likely to recommend a minimum salary at Rs 24,000 and the highest salary at Rs 2,70,000.

He said the proposed India Post payments bank will have immense potential to sell third party product and services.

Hyderabad: India Post's payments bank will start functioning from March 2017 and serve as a wider platform to implement financial inclusion programmes, IT & Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday.

"We are going to start the postal payments bank by March 2017. Very soon we will go to the Cabinet and postal payments bank will become operational from March 2017," Prasad told reporters here.

He said the proposed India Post payments bank will have immense potential to sell third party product and services. About 50 companies, including some from abroad, are keen to partner with postal department for the payments bank, like World Bank, Citi from America, Barclay's from England, he said.

Reacting to a query, he said these institutions will offer third party services like insurance products, mutual funds, banking instruments and a variety of financial instruments. Asked on the interest shown by these institutions, the minister said, "...that board will decide, I'm only saying value addition of postal department it is attracting so much global attention." "...they will decide how much to give them. It is a call they will take," he said.

The payments bank of postal department will become a big platform of financial inclusion, Prasad said. "We are going to invest about Rs 800 crore -- Rs 400 crore will be invested by the department and the remaining amount will be equity part (mobilised as equity)," he said.

"Postal department has the widest network in India. We have 1,54,939 post offices in the country, out of that 25,560 are departmental post offices and 1,29,379 are branch post offices," he said.

"Under (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, we have decided to re-energise the postal department for India's growth and financial inclusion," he further said. In August 2015, the RBI had given in-principle approval to 11 entities to start payments bank, including the postal department.

The approval is valid for 18 months and all the entities are required to submit a detailed business plan after which they shall be given the final nod.